Community Leaders Announce the Northern Sinjar Social Cohesion Agreement
Mosul, March 30, 2024 – Ezidi (Yazidi) and Arab community leaders
announced the “Northern Sinjar Social Cohesion Agreement.” Among other things,
the community leaders commit to rejecting violence and extremism, support state
processes and institutions, and turn to the rule of law to settle differences
and conflicts. The agreement also calls upon government actors to unify the
administration and security configuration in Sinjar and expedite the
compensation process for those who lost relatives in the conflict with ISIS or
during military operations. The full text of the agreement can be seen in the
annex of this press release.
In the summer of 2014, the terrorist organization ISIS perpetrated its
most heinous crimes in Sinjar District of Ninewa Province, including genocide
against the Ezidis and taking thousands of women as sex-slaves. In the process,
ISIS implicated different tribes and communities and pitted them against each
other. Almost 10 years later, many of the wounds, grievances, and conflicts
they caused require serious attention.
The U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), in collaboration with Al-Tahreer
Association for Development (TAD) and other Iraqi partners, has successfully
facilitated a groundbreaking problem-solving dialogue process in Northern Sinjar,
Ninewa Province, aimed at advancing peace and social cohesion in the area.
USIP undertook this initiative at the request of community and government
leaders, given the Institute’s longstanding engagement in Iraq and success in
facilitating this type of dialogue. The USIP-led dialogue process underscores
the power of dialogue and cooperation in addressing complex challenges. The Ezidi-Arab agreement
is a significant milestone and the culmination of the will of the people of
Northern Sinjar to co-exist peacefully, resolve issues through dialogue, and
seek their rights through the rule of law and institutions of the state,” said Sarhang Hamasaeed, director of Middle East Programs at
USIP.
Over the past year, USIP and TAD implemented a comprehensive five-phase
dialogue process involving Ezidi and Arab community leaders from various parts
of Northern Sinjar. The process commenced with rigorous research and analysis
to understand the issues causing tension in the area, followed by
intra-community dialogues to identify key concerns and common ground.
Subsequently, inter-community dialogues were conducted to bridge differences
and foster mutual understanding between the two communities.
The initial phases of the process focused on the areas of Borek and Gohbel
settlements, along with neighboring villages, where Ezidi-Ezidi and Arab-Arab
dialogues were facilitated. Through these dialogues, communities were able to
articulate their concerns and explore practical solutions, culminating in the
signing of a joint agreement and the formation of a follow-up committee for
implementation. Building on this success, the dialogue process expanded to
include other areas in Northern Sinjar, resulting in each community reaching
internal agreements and establishing communication channels for ongoing
collaboration. The intra- and inter-dialogue phases eventually culminated in
the Northern Sinjar Social Cohesion Agreement signed by 40 leaders in Northern
Sinjar on March 30, 2024.
Senior government officials participated in the ceremony announcing
the agreement in Mosul and expressed support. The officials were from the
federal Government of Iraq, including the National Security Advisory, the
National Security Service, and the Ministry of Migration and Displacement; the
Kurdistan Regional Government; the Governor of Ninewa, Deputy Head of Ninewa’s
Provincial Council, and members of the council. The governor signed the agreement himself and
together with the officials met privately with the representatives of each
community to directly listen to their needs and asks of the government.
The dialogue process and agreement were misinterpreted by some, among other things, as reconciliation and foregoing justice and the
rights of victims. On the contrary, the participating leaders from both
communities together stressed and agreed on the importance of justice among the
rights on which they seek action of state
institutions, and the response of the officials was positive.
“Working in Sinjar was very difficult and the dialogue sessions were not
easy, but starting small and expanding the process helped with rebuilding
communications, which helped with finding common ground,” said Raed Khattab Mhaimeed,
the lead facilitator of the dialogues.
“Important work still lies ahead to help the people of Sinjar to recover from
ISIS’s crimes and develop their areas. Real progress would require serious
efforts by the federal Government of Iraq and Ninewa Provincial Government as
well as continued support from the international community” said Abdulaziz
Al-Jarba, chairman of TAD.
Northern Sinjar Social
Cohesion Agreement
Ninewa
March 30, 2024
Foreword:
At the
request of community leaders in Sinjar and government leaders from Sinjar,
Ninewa province, the Federal Government, and the Kurdistan Regional Government,
the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), along with its Iraqi partners, facilitated
a carefully planned problem-solving dialogue process that began over a year ago
involving Yazidi (Ezidi) and Sunni Arab community leaders in different parts of
Northern Sinjar. USIP’s dialogue process is comprised of five phases: research
and analysis; intra-community dialogue to understand issues of concern and find
common ground; inter-community dialogue to find common ground between the
communities; the reaching of an agreement; and implementing the agreement.
In Northern
Sinjar, the process initially started in Borek and Gohbel Settlements and villages
in their environs. In collaboration with Al-Tahreer Association for
Development, USIP facilitated Ezidi-Ezidi and Arab-Arab dialogues, each
community separately, to first gain a deeper understanding of the issues of
concerns among each community and identify common practical solutions. After
reaching internal agreement, USIP and its partners facilitated inter-community
Ezidi-Arab dialogues that led to the signing of a joint agreement and the
establishment of a follow-up committee to work on its implementation. The
process has also sought to steer communities away from practices that may cause
more harm in the community and towards resolving differences and
grievances.
After
Borek and Gohbel and the neighboring Arab villages, the process was broadened
to include other areas in Northern Sinjar. In January 2024, each community
separately reached their own internal agreement and established a communication
and follow- up committee to work with the other side. The process has succeeded
in establishing common ground to prevent past tragedies; enabling the people to
live in peace; and ensuring a better future for their children and
grandchildren.
The
agreement is a significant milestone and the culmination of the will of the
people of Northern Sinjar to co-exist peacefully, resolve issues through
dialogue, and seek their rights through the rule of law and institutions of the
state. The agreement could be a key building block towards peace and social
cohesion in all of Sinjar.
In
a disgraceful crime that is an affront to humanity, Sinjar witnessed a massive
calamity that qualifies as one of the most heinous and bloodiest crimes in
modern history when the terrorist organization ISIS attacked the city and viciously
killed whomever they found in their way, including men and women, without
showing mercy for the elderly or children. The terrorist organization further reinforced
its criminality by abducting hundreds of men and women – with the fate and
whereabouts of the majority of them remaining unknown. It was quite evident
that the terrorist organization was keen on targeting the social fabric in
Sinjar with the purpose of creating a rift among these communities that could
be used to stir further conflicts and destabilize the area, hoping to
capitalize on them in the future.
Against
this backdrop, the wisdom of the community leaders was strongly present in preventing
the success of opportunistic terrorist attempts and objectives. The shared
history based on solid brotherly relations across time and a robust common
ground built on solid foundations constituted the starting point for home-grown
initiatives to address the challenges.
Considering
the above, leaders and key dignitaries of the community, including Northern Sinjar
Ezidi and Arab tribal leaders, social elites, and decision-makers are
determined to stand up to the challenges that undermine social cohesion,
seeking to bring about genuine stability that would guarantee a free and safe
life in dignity for all where peace and brotherhood would thrive. Taking note
of the above, they commit to achieve the following:
·
Support the state’s authority and
engage interactively to support state institutions so that they attain the quality
capacity needed to meet the key demands and needs of the locals.
·
Support the rule of law, rendering it
the key reference in governing the area without resorting to, accepting, or
supporting any practices that would contradict the enforcement of the law.
·
Support the security forces and
develop the sense of responsibility among the locals for a productive
meaningful contribution in supporting security forces in enforcing the law.
·
Promote the spirit of
amicability, tolerance, coexistence, fostering the culture of acceptance, and
dialogue as the language to reach common grounds.
·
Renounce all forms of violence, while
countering its narrative with moderate and correct ideas and seeking to deny
any chance for the generation of radical ideas regardless of whether they are
religious or nationalist ideas or conducts that would open the door to
extremism.
·
Confront any attempt to sow the seeds
of dissidence, divide, and undermining social cohesion.
Working
to deliver on the community commitments above and fostering social cohesion
across Northern Sinjar, parties to this agreement seek support from the Iraqi
state institutions and international community to implement the following
recommendations:
·
Settle the issue of administrative
arrangements in Sinjar district to put an end to the suffering of locals who
bear transportation costs of long journeys since the administrative capital of
the district is located far and outside the area.
·
Consolidate the security arrangements
by making all security forces report to a single administration that receives
orders from the government and operates within the purview of its security process.
·
Organize effective aid and relief
campaigns to address the destruction and ruin Sinjar has suffered when it was
under the control of the terrorist organization ISIS or during the military
operations to defeat it; the volume of support and logistics provided for
reconstruction purposes has been modest so far and falls short of being
commensurate to the level of devastation.
·
Expedite the processing of reparation
applications and disburse benefits for families of martyrs and missing persons
who were killed in terrorist attacks or during the liberation operations. Most Sinjar residents have yet to receive the
appropriate compensation for their damaged or destroyed property; they continue
to face the challenge of red tape bureaucracy, preventing them from accessing
their entitlements and benefits.
Therefore, we find that the optimal option in this regard would be to take
legal steps to ensure expedited processing of their compensation applications.
·
Given the impact of climate change on
the region, and risks related to livelihoods therein, we ask the federal and
local governments to rush to the rescue of the locals by carrying out potable
water and irrigation projects to enable investing in the vast agricultural
lands in the area, which would boost the national economy in diverse ways.
